


Sticks and Stones

by iamtheoneinthehole



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:49:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtheoneinthehole/pseuds/iamtheoneinthehole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From madcowedgar’s prompt graveyard; Anonymous asked you: AH OT6 Gavin’s been getting hate mail in the post</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sticks and Stones

**Author's Note:**

> This was another one of those prompts that took on a life of its own while I was writing it. I had a lot of fun with it though and hope, should the original prompter ever see this, that they approve of what I’ve done with their fabulous prompt!

Coming out had never been easy. Gavin Free was already well aware of that after coming out to his parents and Dan, just after his eighteenth birthday, as bi. He'd stumbled over his words, his fingers nervously playing with the hem of his shirt as he’d mumbled his way through the speech he'd planned and rehearsed over and over again in his head. Eventually his nerves had gotten the better of him and he'd just... blurted it out. Despite that though they’d all been supportive of the revelation, Dan even going so far as to take Gavin out to bars and attempt to set him up with random guys that they found there (...which had varied and often amusing results given that for all of Dan’s many talents, the man was seriously lacking in the gaydar department).

Admitting that he was in a committed relationship with five men to the wider internet community had been a whole other level of hard, and Gavin could honestly say he'd been terrified when Geoff had first suggested it, but it’d been worth it. Worth it for the smiles on the rest of his boyfriends’ faces when they'd realized they wouldn’t have to hide anymore, worth it for the way they could be all cutesy together around the office, the only real consequence being the merciless teasing of their coworkers, and for the fact that they now knew with all certainty that the people they worked with, while still ultimately being the assholes they’d always been, both approved of and supported their relationship, however unconventional it might be. All the same though, coming out rarely came without consequences.

When he’d been eighteen it’d meant some of the kids at school calling him ‘fag’, though there’d never been many of them hurling that and other insults at him so he hadn't really let it bother him. Because what were a few words said by some random kids when he had the support of his parents and his best friend, they'd been the only opinions that'd really mattered to him after all... It was different this time. For one, the scale they’d chosen to come out on was considerably larger than just telling his family and a few friends (he'd already done that a few months ago and they'd, once again, been nothing but supportive about his relationship with the five men he worked with). For another, this time he wasn’t just revealing something about himself but the people around him that he’d come to love; love more than he’d ever realized he could love another person before he’d started to work for Roosterteeth. The stakes had been raised considerably from the last time he'd set foot outside of the closet and so, Gavin supposed, he should’ve realized that the hate he received in response would rise with it…

____ 

The first letter he'd received had been fairly mild in its content simply stating that the fan couldn’t quite ‘understand’ Gavin’s relationship with his boys and claiming that they weren’t entirely sure they were ‘comfortable’ watching their videos anymore. He'd shrugged it off, figuring it was the fan's loss if they felt that way, before tossing the letter aside and getting on with some editing he owed Geoff. The second had been… less so. And after that it seemed the floodgates had opened up and the hate mail came pouring in. Gavin wasn’t entirely sure why the fan base had chosen to target him out of the six of them but at the same time he couldn’t help but feel relieved that it wasn’t one of his boyfriend’s on the receiving end of these letters because after the first few, it became harder and harder to brush off their words as if they were nothing and carry on as normal.

It wasn’t just his relationship with the others they targeted either. Sure, it'd started out that way but after the few week or so they began to evolve as they started talking about his hair, his ‘whiny’ accent, his ‘dumb’ nose, some said he was too skinny, some said he was too loud, some called him ‘fag’ or ‘slut’, a couple he’d had to stop reading because he could feel himself reacting to them and wasn’t entirely sure how he’d explain his watery eyes to his boyfriends if they walked in on him like that.

After a couple of weeks, he found himself holding onto the worst ones, stashing them away in a little box that he made sure to keep out of sight in case one of his boyfriends were to accidentally stumble across them. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it, perhaps a part of him hoped that by rereading their comments he’d be able to weaken their hold over him, or maybe improve himself by taking on board their criticism. All he did know was that within the space of three weeks the box was almost full and Gavin had never felt worse about himself.

And so he’d begun pulling back a little from the Let’s Plays, making less dumb comments and sabotaging less of the games they played to the point where both Ryan and Michael had asked him if he was feeling okay within the space of the same video. He’d spun off some hopefully convincing answer about just being tired from some last minute editing he’d had to complete and just hoped they wouldn’t ask again.

The mail didn’t stop, the words got no less cruel, but it made Gavin feel just a fraction to think that maybe, at the very least, he’d managed to please some of the fans who’d been complaining before about him being obnoxious in videos or who’d accused him of ruining his boyfriends’ fun by constantly screwing with their efforts. A few had said they couldn’t believe men like Michael, Ray, Ryan, Jack and Geoff actually put up with him… those were the comments that’d begun to effect him the most.

Because being in a relationship with men as attractive and intelligent as his boyfriends sure as hell left a lot of space for insecurities and the doubts he’d started to feel about his little quirks and ‘Gavinisms’ certainly didn’t help with that.

He’d almost started to believe them, that his boyfriends were too good for him, the letter currently in hand making a fairly convincing case for it (despite its arguable overuse of swear words and its numerous spelling errors) by the point that Ray had all but flung himself down next to Gavin on the couch one evening.

"What’s up Vav?" Gavin quickly folded the letter he’d been reading, turning to face Ray with a sheepish expression he knew must look at least a little bit suspicious.

"The sky Ray." His boyfriend simply rolled his eyes at that, calling him a dumbass as he settled himself so that his head rested on Gavin’s shoulder.

"Is that fan mail?"

"Yeah, mostly, why?"

"Mostly?"

"Well yeah I mean most of these people think I’m top, and there’s a few that don’t but who can blame them really and look X-Ray someone knitted me a tower of-“

"Wait Vav… have people been sending you hate mail?"

"Well yeah but-"

"For how long?"

"Since I started here I guess, though it kind of picked up a little when we announced our relationship, but really Ray its-"

"Don’t you dare finish that sentence with ‘its nothing’. You’ve been getting quieter in Let’s Plays for weeks now and this is the reason why isn’t it? We’ve been worried you know. Geoff and Michael were planning an intervention, Ryan’s convinced its his fault and has been trying to include you as much as possible in Let’s Plays to make up for it and Jack… Jack thought you were planning on leaving us. So unless I’m wrong and he’s right, and I seriously hope that’s not the case here, this," He gestured to the paper in Gavin’s hand, "Isn’t nothing."

"What isn’t nothing?" Ryan asked as he moved into the living room, taking a seat on Gavin’s other side and effectively pinning him between the two men (which in any other situation would be a wet dream come true but right now just served to be a little intimidating).

"Gavin’s been getting hate mail, that’s why he’s been quiet during the let’s plays, told you it wasn’t you Rye-bread."

"For how long."

"Forever apparently, though its gotten worse since we all came out of the closet."

"I’m pretty sure Mavin were never really in the closet."

"I’m pretty sure you’re right but apparently some people out there chose to ignore the blatant homo until we confirmed it."

"And now they’re sending him hate mail for it?"

"Guys its really not a big deal." He was quickly met with two incredulous stares, the matching looks of frustration on his boyfriend’s faces causing him to fall silent, his hands fiddling with the edges of the letter still in his hands almost subconsciously.

"It’s clearly bothering you, that makes it a big deal." Ray cut in, the look in his eyes telling Gavin that he wasn’t about to budge on this issue.

"Do you have any more of these lying around?" Gavin hesitated for a moment before nodding and gesturing to a small box he kept stashed under the opposite couch, flinching a little in response to the sharp intake of breath from Ryan as he opened the box, seeing for himself the way it was almost stacked to the brim with letters, "Okay to start with we’re getting rid of all of these. These things are nothing but poison and they’re obviously hurting you. What’s more they couldn’t be more fucking wrong."

Gavin looked up to meet Ryan’s gaze, surprised to see the intensity burning behind his eyes as he moved back over to the take a seat on the other side of the couch, carrying the box with him and setting it down on the table in front of them with a loud thud. “How can you say that when you don’t even know what they’re saying?”

"Because you told us they’re hate mail and there’s literally not a single damn reason to hate you Gavin Free." Ray cut in, his gaze filled with the same spark Ryan's held as Gavin turned to look at him, finding after a few moments that he couldn't hold the man's gaze.

"...Rye-bread used to though-" He mumbled, turning back to face the man in question and surprised to find an almost pained expression on the man’s face when he did.

"Gavin I never hated you, to be honest I was halfway convinced you hated me for the first month or so after Geoff promoted me to Achievement Hunter. You were this crazy, hyperactive kid, with all these great ideas and a huge fanbase that adored you, and I was just a dumb behind the scenes guy that Geoff had decided to cut a break. I was pretty much convinced he was going to realize his mistake and take back his offer sooner or later and that all of you would secretly be grateful for it when he did. As it turns out I was wrong about that but if I seemed quiet or edgy those first few months, that was why. Because I wanted to make a good impression on all of you and had literally no idea how to go about that."

"In other words you were both being idiots but he never hated you Vav. None of us ever have."

"But how can’t you?" Gavin blurted out without really meaning to, forcing himself to ignore the looks on his boyfriend’s faces as he continued, "How can’t you when I’m an idiot all the time and my nose is too big and my accent’s too whiny and I make up all these stupid words and mess with all of your hard work in the Lets Plays and make dumb jokes about things and basically screw things up for everyone. I just… I know I’m a fuck up and sooner or later you’ll see that too because… you guys deserve so much better than me." The last part came out as more of a defeated whisper than anything but he knew, all the same, that his boyfriends had heard him based on the sharp intake of breath he heard from one of them. He’d been ready to climb off the couch and bolt when he’d felt arms, Ryan’s, wrap firmly around his waist as Ray moved to gently cradle the Brit’s face within his hands, forcing Gavin to meet his gaze.

"Right we’ve listened to you and now you’re going to listen to us okay?" Gavin nodded mutely, something about the sudden fierceness in Ray’s eyes making the Brit bite his tongue as he waited for his boyfriend to continue, "Firstly, we don’t call you an idiot because you are one. Sure you act like one sometimes but we all do and you’re actually pretty damn smart in your own ways. Secondly we happen to like your nose,"

"It’s kind of cute and we only tease you about it because when we do it makes you blush a little,"

"And that’s all kinds of adorable Vav."

"Thirdly, your accent’s not whiny, its actually hot as hell." Gavin knew that the look on his face in that moment must’ve been pretty incredulous but he didn’t think he could really be blamed for it given that it was Ryan who was saying that seeing as everyone knew that his and Jack’s voices were basically the vocal equivalent of sex… Before they’d started their relationship he’d gotten distracted from his work way too often by thoughts of that voice and what it might sound like when he… Point was it seemed almost ridiculous for Ryan, of all people, to be calling his accent hot. But Ray seemed to agree with him based on the nod he offered in response to Ryan’s words and Gavin had promised to listen so he’d battled down his insecurities, trying his best to ignore them as his boyfriends continued to speak.

"Forthly, there’s nothing wrong with making up new words you pleb." Ray teased, "We happen to like your Gavinisms, I mean most of us are even using them by this point, especially Michael. Do you honestly think we’d do that if we didn’t like them?"

"As for messing with us in the Let’s Plays? That’s hardly the worst thing any of us have done in them I mean I’m pretty sure the fanbase will never forget nor forgive the Clouds incident."

"To be fair Rye-bread you brought that on yourself."

"It was never stated in the rules-"

"It was at the beginning of the video, Michael made us go back and check remember. Twice."

"I still maintain that rule was only ever implied. My point is messing with people a little’s not as bad as bending, and debatably breaking, the rules. So if anything I’m the one who messes up the Let’s Plays we do."

"And for the record Vav we all make dumb jokes so if that’s something worth being hated for we should all be swimming in those letters by now…"Ray pointed out, gesturing to the space around them before returning his attention to the man in front of him, "Most importantly though, you do not screw things up for everyone, not even a little bit."

"And we’re not going to wake up one day and think otherwise because if anything you’re the glue that holds our relationship together, the missing piece that makes it all work in the way it never would’ve without you."

"We’re all a mess of fuck ups Gav, that's how people work, but loving you is the one thing of the few things we’ve managed to do that wasn’t one of them."

"And nothing you say or do or are will convince us otherwise. If anything it’ll just make us fall in love with you that much more." Ryan had murmured before pressing a gentle kiss to Gavin’s neck, Ray matching it moments later with a gentle press of his lips to the Brit’s, thumb smoothing lightly over Gavin’s cheek as he pulled back.

They’d stayed on the couch for a while after that trading soft kisses that helped Gavin a little with forgetting about the box sat on the table, his attention instead captured by the two men who murmured soft assurances into his skin, between kisses, Ryan’s hand gently carding through his hair as Ray’s idly traced patterns across the Brit’s chest. Eventually Gavin had fallen asleep against Ray’s shoulder allowing Ryan to quickly slip out and dispose of the box. When he'd returned, it was to the sight of Ray coaxing the drowsy looking Brit upstairs to bed which was where their other boyfriends had found the three of them a few hours later, Ray and Ryan curled protectively into the Brit’s sides as the three lay tangled together in the sheets.

——

They told the others the next day in the office while Gavin was busy filming vines with Burnie and Barb in the meeting room, explaining that they’d disposed of the existing hate mail and that they planned to arrange it so that fan mail was more carefully filtered through in future. That hadn’t stopped the anger from briefly flaring up in Michael’s eyes nor the concern mixed with a guilty relief in Jack’s when they explained that this had been the reason he’d been so quiet in Let’s Plays recently but the knowledge that Ryan and Ray had made some efforts to help resolve the issue had appeased them somewhat and by the time Gavin had arrived back in the office, they were all hard at work as if nothing had ever happened.

"Alright assholes today we’re filming AHWU and Things To Do and if we somehow miraculously manage to get through a vs then lunch for the rest of the week is on me. Everybody clear? Good. If someone could go help Rye-bread grab his stuff we’ll start out with the Things To Do.”

——

A few hours (and a lot of laughs) later and Things To Do: ‘Stop The Bus’ (which had mostly consisted of the unholy alliance that was Gavin and the bus ramming into various people and vehicles as the other lads and gents did all the could to stop him from reaching his target on the other end of the GTA map. He’d ultimately managed to evade their attempts only to get mowed down by a passing train much to his boyfriends’ amusement as they’d watched the bus hurtle across the tracks) had finally been filmed and Ray had left to help Ryan carry his stuff back to the warehouse while Geoff and Jack ran over their notes for AHWU.

Gavin had just finished setting up the footage he’d just filmed to render and pass on to Lindsay later when he’d felt Michael’s foot nudge the edge of his chair, the Brit quickly spinning his seat to face the redhead, “What is it Micoo?”

"Ray and Ryan told us about the hate mail earlier… You know that those assholes who sent it are fucking wrong, right?"

The Brit internally sighed, not exactly blaming Ryan and Ray for telling the others about his situation, especially after what Ray had told him about Jack’s beliefs as to why he’d been so quiet lately, but kind of wishing that he could’ve kept it a secret from them for a little longer all the same since the last thing he wanted was for all of his boyfriends to be worried about him the way Ray and Ryan had been after he’d told them, like Michael currently seemed to be if his worried frown was anything to go by... “Don’t worry about it Michael, its fine, really. Ray and Ryan already gave me that talk and its all good now. I’m okay. I’m just… glad it was only me who was getting the letters I guess.”

"How do you mean?"

"Well one of the main things they bashed was the fact that we were all together you know? I’m just grateful they had more of a problem with the ‘me’ element of that than the relationship itself."

"They shouldn’t have a problem with the ‘any’ part of our relationship since its none of their goddamn business."

"Michael, really its fine… maybe if we just tone it down a little in the next few videos… they’ll probably cool off."

"What you mean act less gay and hope they’ll just choose to ignore the fact that we’re all banging each other? Fuck that."

"But Michael-" Gavin started just as Ray slipped back inside the office, the concerned look he shot the Brit making him choose to drop what he’d been about to say so as not to worry his boyfriend any more than he already was, flashing him a smile that probably didn’t quite reach his eyes instead, Ray forcing a smile of his own in response, the concern still lingering in his eyes as he moved to take a seat at his desk and Jack handed Geoff the mic before moving to stand behind the camera.

"All right idiots, AHWU recording’s about to start so let’s try not to knock over the camera like last week and make it through this with what little remains of my sanity from dating you dumbasses still intact." His comment was met with a few amused chuckles, Michael spinning in his chair to flip him the bird as Jack finished setting up, offering Geoff a thumbs up and receiving a nod in return, signalling to the man to start recording as he began to run through the games that were going to be released that week.

About twenty minutes in and they’d recorded most of Geoff’s section of the update (they’d have to run through the intro again later since Geoff had managed to fluff both the name of the first game he’d mentioned and somehow, to the endless amusement of his boyfriends, the actual name of the update itself. Otherwise though, they’d had relatively few fuck ups for an AHWU recording) so it'd been in the middle of Caleb talking about the community video of the week that Michael had turned to face Gavin with that wide smile on his face that usually meant that Gavin was either about to get murdered brutally in a game or that Michael was about to jump his bones… Usually Gavin loved that smile but right now, given the fact that they were recording AHWU, not a lets play, and that the other reason might become a little awkward with Caleb still in the room, he couldn’t help but feel unnerved by it.

He offered Michael a questioning look, the grin on the redhead’s face only growing wider in response as he beckoned Gavin closer, waiting until the man stood up before pulling him into his lap, resulting in an undignified squawk on the Brit’s part as he just about managed to steady himself on Michael’s knees, the sound of his boyfriend’s laughter echoing around the room in response as Caleb tried to keep going despite the amused grin that’d now worked its way on to the man’s features.

Gavin let out a small whine of, “Michael,” receiving a chorus of teasing ‘Michael’s’ from his (asshole) boyfriends in response as the redhead in question simply chuckled before wrapping his arms around Gavin’s waist in a vice grip that only tightened when Gavin tried to get up and move back to his own chair, the look he flashed Gavin when he turned to complain making it painfully apparent that he wasn’t going anywhere for the remainder of the recording (not that Gavin found he minded too much. The warmth of Michael’s chest against his back was nice, comforting, plus it gave him a prime opportunity to annoy the redhead by squirming in his lap).

It was towards the end of their recording that Michael finally let the Brit up, having well and truly committed to having Gavin on his lap for the duration of the AHWU recording, despite the way Gavin had squirmed and poked at the arms Michael had wrapped around his waist. He'd remained on the redhead’s lap for the rest of Caleb’s section as well as the majority of Jack’s, much to the amusement of their boyfriends and despite the fact that having Gavin sat there that long had probably left Michael’s legs numb. The redhead hadn’t seemed to mind based on the smile that he’d been wearing every time Gavin had turned around to look at his boyfriend, not the smug one from before but a softer one that Gavin usually only saw when the six of them were alone together and Michael was telling them, in his own way, that he loved them. The way that didn’t need words (since the lad had never really been the best at saying them) because one look into Michael’s eyes and it was there clear as day.

That smile had helped Gavin tamper down the (not-quite) embarrassment he felt at being like this with Michael in front of the cameras which were still very much rolling, despite his current situation. It wasn’t that he was ashamed to be seen with Michael, far from it, it was more that he felt bad about Michael having to be seen with him, the comments he’d read in those pieces of hate mail running through his mind unbidden the longer he’d remained in the redhead’s lap to the point that it was almost a relief when his boyfriend had eventually let him go. He’d begun to move back towards his seat when he felt Michael’s hand catch his wrist just as Geoff was finishing up the recording.

"This is one for the assholes out there that’ve been sending in hate mail. Fuck you, fuck your hate, go fuck yourselves #ahot62014." The redhead had directed at the camera before pulling Gavin into a deep kiss that the Brit couldn’t help but respond to, hands tangling in Michael’s hair as he forgot, for a moment, where they were as his boyfriend drew him in closer, nipping at his lower lip and then suddenly pulling back and dipping the Brit in a way that had him clutching at the redhead’s arms with a squeak of "Micoo," To the sounds of Ray, Jack, Geoff and Caleb’s laughter echoing through the office as they watched, Michael pulling Gavin upright again after a few moments, his grin unapologetic as he pressed a light kiss to the Brit’s cheek before moving back over to his desk as Geoff hit the stop on the camera.

Later, when the video reached Lindsey’s editing pile she’d laughed, rolling her eyes at the boys before nudging Ryan and getting him to take a look at the footage, noting with a smile the way his expression seemed to soften as he watched them. After that she got to work editing, removing parts like where Geoff fluffed the name of a game or Jack managed to knock the camera, though thankfully not break it this week (because she was pretty sure Burnie would’ve had their heads if they'd had to buy another replacement again that soon after the last incident) until she finally reached the last part of the video. After a few seconds of deliberating she decided to keep it in, a part of her just as incensed as Michael had been about the thought of any hate mail regarding her boys, and a part of her smirking a little to herself as she pictured the fans' reactions when this video hit the Roosterteeth site.

——

A few days later found Gavin sat peering over Ryan's shoulder as the two of them watched the Roosterteeth podcast for that week. Michael would usually watch it with them but, after some last minute editing the previous night, the ragequitter had been exhausted all day at the office and had promptly slumped into the nearest couch when he'd arrived home. Ray meanwhile was sat on the other side of Ryan, controller in hand as he worked towards getting the latest achievement he'd set his sights on, though he'd muted the game so he could catch little snatches of conversation from the Podcast. Geoff and Jack were both still at the office, Geoff because he was finishing off a Let's Build with Kerry and Lindsay (to say that Gavin had been surprised that he hadn't been involved would've been an understatement but apparently Geoff wanted to maintain the element of surprise for this challenge), Jack because he was on the podcast itself (which was, honestly, the main reason they were watching it in the first place).

Gavin hadn't really been paying much attention to the stories being told for the last few minutes of the podcast, instead choosing to focus on the soothing timbre of his boyfriend's voice, when the sound of his name had suddenly caught his attention.

"...must've known something was bothering me because a few moments later he'd flung himself into my lap. Just a reminder that this was before any of us were actually dating so it was a bit of a shock to suddenly have a lap full of British idiot. But he didn't seem to realize that and when I tried to say something he put his finger on my lips..." There was the sound of laughter from Burnie and the others staring on the podcast that week that Gavin barely registered, his focus entirely on his boyfriend's words as he spoke, "And just went 'shh' and then he just sat there for a good ten minutes like that, which was pretty goddamn funny, especially when that server who'd been flirting with him before came back."

"Was his finger still on your lips?"

"It literally would not budge," More laughter, "...because every time I tried to say something he'd just shh me again."

"That poor girl must've been so disappointed."

"Her words said 'cute', her tone said something else entirely. The best part though was Gavin's response because he just turns to her and goes 'Jack's the cutest, he's smiley and warm and gives the bestest hugs ever, like a teddy bear."

"Aww that's adorable."

"Actual drunken five year old Gavin Free." A few more laughs and then the conversation had briefly strayed off on a tangent about drunken five year olds and how if it wasn't such a horrible thought it'd probably be hilarious until Burnie had redirected the conversation back to Jack's story, curious to know how it'd ended.

"Well actually the girl walked away pretty quickly after that. She did make sure to grab the napkin she'd left with her number on it earlier though."

"She decided she couldn't fight with your teddy bear charms Jack."

"Honestly I'm not sure what she decided but I have to say it did perk me up a little to be called 'the cutest'. I mean obviously he was drunk as hell and me and Geoff made sure to cut him off pretty quickly after that but... to this day I honestly think that's one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me... The thing about Gavin is he has a way with words that's very different to other people's way with words," A few scattered chuckles, "But sometimes the things he'll say to you will make you smile just that little brighter you know? Maybe he's not the sharpest crayon in the coloring box but when it comes to making people happy, there's no one smarter at it than Gavin David Free."

A beat of silence and then, "Christ Jack you have it bad."

"Yep... I've basically accepted by this point that I'm hopelessly in love with the idiot. I guess that's what makes it harder to understand when some of the fans don't love him the way me and our other boyfriends do, because what's not to love about a man like that..."

____

Gavin might’ve hugged Jack that little bit tighter when he’d arrived home that night with Geoff, murmuring a quiet ‘love you’ into the man’s shoulder as he'd felt Jack's arms wrap around his waist in one of those infamous 'teddy bear' hugs he'd come to cherish more than almost anything... Then Michael stirred from his nap on the couch, letting out a string of cusses as he managed to slip off the edge in his groggy state. And just like that the moment was broken as the room burst into laughter, Ray saving his progress and moving to help up the redhead as the others continued to laugh at his misfortune and Michael called them all 'fucking assholes' (though his grin gave him away).

——

Geoff was, strangely enough, the last to say or do anything about the hate mail. Strange because everyone knew the man was fiercely protective when it came to those he loved and if you ever managed to hurt one of them, you’d better run and hope your legs could carry you away fast enough. And when it came to the Brit, if anything, that protectiveness only multiplied given the fact that Geoff seemed to feel responsible for him. He had, after all, played a large role in uprooting Gavin from his old life in England and so he'd always felt somewhat responsible for ensuring Gavin never came to regret that move. The rest of their boyfriends had been halfway convinced that Geoff would’ve attempted to track the assholes who’d been sending him the hate mail down or, at the very least, had expected him to snap at someone because of it, perhaps one of the new interns provided that Gus hadn’t already scared them away but so far… nothing. Nothing, that was, until a few days after Jack had been on the podcast when they'd been filming their latest Minecraft Let's Play.

That day they were playing a game called ‘Not So Tiny Tower’ in which the lads and gents had to battle their way through various challenges, gradually working their way up the floors Geoff had built into his house especially for this purpose (he’d had to invest several days and both Lindsey and Kerry's assistance in order to make it work but the finished product, they’d all agreed, had been worth the effort it’d taken them to build it), until they reached the top. First to reach it won the coveted tower of pimps.

As the race was currently going, it looked like it was Ray’s or Michael’s game though Gavin and Jack weren’t too far behind. Ryan had encountered some lagging issues to the point that he was four floors down from the others and had instead begun cheering for Gavin (since he figured it was about time the Brit claimed another trophy for his trophy room of victory) and perhaps ever-so-slightly attempting to break Michael and Ray’s focus to give him a better chance at winning (which he maintained technically wasn't cheating since he technically wasn't trying to win).

Geoff’s focus, however, was elsewhere as he studied his boyfriends for a moment before calling out, “Leeeeeeeeeet’s stop for a moment… unless you’re about to get boned by a skeleton in which case kill it and then stop,” He amended after catching sight of what was going on on Ray’s screen. He waited for a moment, the man giving him a thumbs up when the creature was down, before continuing, “Right so this is more addressed to the audience than you guys, so feel free to kick back and relax for a moment, mentally prepare yourselves for the horrors that await on the last floor.”

"The horrors Geoff?"

"Let’s put it this way, Lindsey, Kerry and I tested each of these floors out once we’d finished building them to see how effective they were as far as killing you idiots was concerned and we discovered that last floor is super effective in doing just that."

"What happens if none of us make it."

"I win by default now shh, let me address the idiots I don’t have to work with. People of the internet, recently its come to our attention that our favorite idiot’s been receiving some hate mail from some of you guys. I know its not all of you, fact is we have one of the best fanbases out there when it comes to this stuff, but there’s always the few assholes who have to try and ruin it for everyone else and this message is directed at them. We all know Gavin’s dumb, he uses things that aren’t words and he screws himself over time and time again in Let’s Plays, some people find him annoying, we're aware of that, but that doesn't mean he is or that he's going to change anytime soon. Fact is, if Gavin's an idiot, he's our idiot and your idiot too. These Let's Plays and Things To Do and so many other things we do here at Roosterteeth wouldn't even begin to work if he wasn't a part of them nor would they be half as fucking funny if he were any less of a loveable dumbass sometimes. He's not going to change anytime soon, no matter what those letters have to say, because we're not going to let him. And frankly anyone who doesn’t like that or him can go suck a bag of dicks.”

Gavin had spun around in his chair mid speech to find Geoff's eyes holding his, something immeasurably fond lingering in the older man's gaze as he'd talked about Gavin being their idiot and by time he'd finished talking the Brit found himself a little speechless. So instead he'd gotten up from his chair and moved across the room to capture the man's lips in a soft kiss, before murmuring a quiet, "...Thanks Geoff."

"No problem idiot..." Geoff had murmured, watching as the Brit moved back across the room to his seat before adding, "That being said, I’m still rooting for Ray to win this, sorry Gavin."

Gavin just grinned as he moved to grab his controller from the desk in front of him, "You’ll be eating those words soon Geoffrey, X-Ray I’m coming for you."

"You can try Vav."

"Leeeeeeeeeet’s resume in 3, 2, 1, gooooooooooo."

——

It wasn’t as if the letters stopped overnight, or at all for the matter. As Geoff had said, there’d always be a few assholes in the world. Gavin had simply ceased to care so much about them. Something about the way things had unfolded once his boyfriends had known about the situation had helped him shift his priorities a little. And what he'd realized was that Gavin David Free was a 25 year old British idiot and yet in his life so far he’d managed to land the best job out there with the best coworkers and some of the sweetest and apparently the sappiest boyfriends in the whole world. And he loved them for it, more than he’d ever loved anyone, more than he'd ever believed he could. And sometimes he'd find himself picturing the lot of them growing old together (so maybe in the end he was just as sappy as they were). His future had never looked so bright and each day just seemed to offer more exciting new possibilities. And at the end of the day it was pretty hard for a piece of paper to hurt him with a life as top as that.


End file.
